If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and do some hiking, a good day-trip would be to make your way to Mount Hua 华山. You can join any of the local tours (which are a dime a dozen) to get yourself there. That’s probably easiest. It takes about 1.5 – 2 hours to get there by bus from Xi’an’s city centre.

The type of rock that makes up the mountains is mostly granite. When you get to the base, I suggest you take the cable car up to the North Peak. The more enthusiastic climbers can start right from the bottom and make their way up by foot. But it’s an endless flight of stairs. It’s best to take the cable car and then walk to the South, East and West peaks from there. That will take up a few hours and it’s a lot of walking! There’s a temple at every peak and a few peppered along the way from one peak to another.

You’ll see many of these locks. The superstitious Chinese believe that you should make a wish on a lock and lock it there for good luck. Lovers should also buy a lock so that their love for each other is sealed forever. I think it’s all crap.


The steps are extremely steep at times and you’ll have to walk very carefully. Here, I, the baby mountain goose, scale this flight of steps against an almost vertical wall! Grab on to those chains at the side! The hike can be tiring, but take it at your own pace and just enjoy the breathtaking views!


As you make your way up the endless steps, you’ll come across many mountain porters. These porters haul chairs, ten gallons of water and god knows what up the mountains to the teahouses and hostels in the mountain. It’s such back-breaking work and my heart really goes out to them. Their faces are weathered by all these hard work and I really can’t fathom how they manage to haul all these things up. This particular porter started to break into song, singing a folk song with all his heart in his local dialect. I didn’t understand a word, but it sounded extremely lovely and melodious up in those mountains.